Barbershop harmony show comes to Stratford

The Coastal Chordsmen are celebrating their 70th year as the voice of barbershop harmony in Southern Connecticut with a show in Stratford on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m., at the General Lohrman Scottish Rite Theater (formerly Stratford Theater), 2422 Main Street.

The show features their own Take 4, 2016 Yankee Division Champion quartet, and Fifth Floor, a contemporary a cappella group based out of Central Connecticut State University. Entitled Hollywood in Harmony, the chorus will sing popular tunes from decades of the silver screen.

Take 4 consists of four Coastal Chordmen members who won the championship of the Barbershop Harmony Society’s Yankee Division which takes up all of Connecticut and eastern New York State. Its members are: David Hunter, Shelton, baritone; Scott Poarch, Newtown, bass; Jordan Kugler, New Haven, lead; and Victor Lembo, Beacon Falls, tenor.

Fifth Floor is a semi-professional group composed of six men and two women singers who have performed around Connecticut to great acclaim. They sing anything from the latest Pop, to Contemporary, Hip-Hop and Broadway as well.

Originally chartered in 1946 as the Ringmasters Chorus, the Chordsmen rehearse in Trumbull but are officially the Bridgeport Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society since that is where they originally convened as the first chapter in the Northeast District. The district comprises all of eastern New York State, all New England and Quebec and maritime provinces of Canada.

Known for their Singing Valentines project every February, the Chordsmen love to entertain audiences throughout the region with their mix of traditional barbershop and newer material, and support many charities and organizations through their performances. The 30-man chorus draws its members from Fairfield and New Haven counties.

The chorus has performed at venues ranging from local town greens to New York’s Carnegie Hall. For the past eight years it has been a featured performing group on Connecticut Day at the “Big E” Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Mass. They last appeared there Sept. 21.